Wearing apparel



Oct. 27, 1942. 'r. KREMER 2,299,996

WEARING APPAREL Filed May 31, 1941 Patented Oct. 27, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WEARING APPAREL Thea Kremer, Chicago, 111.

Application May 31, 1941, Serial No. 395.931

1 Claim.

This invention is directed to articles of wearing apparel and mor particularly to dresses,

skirts, and lik feminine garments.

Heretofore it has been proposed to manufacture garments from materials such as seersucker or the like which, after laundering, do not require ironing or pressing operations to provide a suitably finished product. The present invention is directed to a garment construction which i particularly adapted to employ to the utmost the ready-finished appearance characteristic of such materials and of other suitable materials, and particularly contemplates means for imparting plaits or gathers in such material.

The present invention also contemplates in combination an adjustable dress or skirt securing means whereby the act of securing the garment in place automatically adjusts it to the figure, whereby the same garment may be worn by a wide range of diilerent sized figures.

The present invention contemplates integrally incorporated drawstrings or material gathering devices which, while the garment is being worn, form a part of the ornamental arrangement and assembly of the garment and which, after the garment has been laundered, may be used to compress and compact the garment, preferably while still wet, into a small bundle, at the same time impressing the desired plaited or gathered effect into the fabric.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment in which may be produced a number of plaits or gathers which are imparted during the drying operation.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a garment for feminine wear which may be laundered in the usual manner and will require a minimum of efiort in order to produce a gathered or plaited dress, skirt, or other garment.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide means constituting an integral part of the garment which may be manipulated after laundering of the garment to plait or gather the garment fabric along the lines of a predetermined design.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment which is readily adjustable throughout and may quickly and automatically be regulated to meet the requirements of difierent sizes and figures.

Further and additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows One embodiment wherein th present invention is incorporated into a complete dress.

Fig. 2 shows the present invention applied to a skirt which has been drawn together into a compact plaited bundle for drying.

. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2, with th drawstrings untied.

Fig. 4 is a detail View of a portion of Fig. 3 showing a drawstring enclosing hem.

Fig. 5 illustrates one manner in which the drawstring enclosing hem may be made.

Fig. 6 shows another manner in which the drawstring enclosing hem may be made and wherein a separate cover strip is provided.

Fig. 7 discloses a third manner in which the drawstring enclosing hem may be made wherein the hem is formed from the body of the garment material.

The present invention may be applied to a skirt, a complete dress, or to a blouse and skirt combination, or two-piece dress. The embodiment illustrated in detail comprises an upper or blouse portion I and a lower or skirt portion 2 which may be integral or, if desired, may separate at the waist, the point of separation being ordinarily covered by a suitable belt 3. As

shown, both the blouse and the skirt may be pro- It will be noted that, with the above construc- I tion, the garment may originally be made extra large and, by properly adjusting and securing the drawstrings, portions of th garment may be taken in here and there wherever desired in order to make it conform to the contour of the wearer. With this construction it will be apparent that a garment of one size is readily and automatically adjustable to fit the various shapes and sizes of diiierent persons.

When it is desired to launder this garment, it is first washed in the usual manner and the drawstrings may then be tightened to gather the material together into a compact plaited bundle as shown in Fig. 2. This may be done while the dress is still damp and therefore more readily capable of being impressed with plaits or gathers. The dress while being compacted is longitudinally gathered or plaited and may be retained in said plaited condition as long as desired in order to incorporate the plaits into the material of the garment, for example, until it dries, In Fig. 2

the skirt is shown gathered together and compacted so as to plait the fabric. It will be obvious that the same procedure could be followed with respect to the blouse shown in Fig. 1, including the sleeves there shown, and the present invention is not limited in application to the skirt only.

The drawstrings may be used to gather and retain the goods in compact plaited arrangement as illustrated in Fig. 2 preferably with the material damp so as to more permanently impress the plaits into the material, or the garment may be stored in compacted condition depending upon the wishes of the user and the characteristics of the material of which the garment is made.

The drawstrings employed in the present invention may be added to the garment in a number of ways, some of which are illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. In Fig. 5, the drawstring is in the form of a decorative ribbon and is shown threaded through suitable eyelets 6.

Fig. 6 discloses a securing means comprising a ribbon and an outer strip of material I which is sewn along each edge to the garment and under which the ribbon is drawn.

Fig. '7 discloses a hem formed as an integral part of an intermediate portion of the material and through which the drawstring or ribbon may be threaded. As shown in Fig. 4, the adjacent ends of this hem permit ready manipulation and tying of the ribbon by the wearer, the adjacent ends being tied together to form a decorative bow or the like. The belt 3 may be worn over the upper edge of the skirt to conceal both it and the adjacent lower edge of the blouse.

It is intended, of course, that the invention should not be limited to the specific embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein, since modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claim to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

Having thus described this invention, What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A packaged self-plaiting skirt of launderable plait-retaining material, packed into a small cylindrical plaited bundle, and means for drawing said skirt into and retaining it in plaited bundle form comprising a plurality of pliable gathering bands extending circumferentially of the skirt and slidably secured to said skirt, said bands being of sufficient length to surround the skirt when the skirt is expanded to be worn, one of said bands being adjacent the upper edge of the skirt, and a number of said bands surrounding a portion of said skirt intermediate the upper and lower edges of the skirt.

THEA KREMER. 

